Adjustment
by hermiine
Summary: What if Hannah had accepted Booth's marriage proposal? Told from Brennan's POW.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **This story takes off from the 6th season episode _the Daredevil in the Mold _with the exception that Hannah accepts Booth's marriage proposal. The whole story will be told from Brennan's POW. If you take the time to comment privately or post a review I greatly appreciate it. Hope you like it!

**Adjustment**

**Chapter 1**

It wasn't that she hadn't expected it. When he told her about the proposal she realized that it would probably not going to be a long engagement. When they had all gone out to celebrate with drinks the following Friday, it had been even more apparent to her. The wedding would be soon. She was still surprised to see the white envelope with ornate black letters spelling out her name and address on top of the pile of mail. Even though there was no reasonable way she could know, she still knew. She put the mail down on the counter and went over to the fridge. It was empty except for some eggs, milk and other at the moment rather useless ingredients. She could make an omelet she decided and got to work. Once in a while the envelope caught her eyes, but she firmly dismissed it. It was late, she was hungry and she needed to eat. Going through the mail would have to wait.

She sat down at the table and ate while flipping through the newspaper she hadn't had time to read in the morning. When she was finished she cleaned up in the kitchen and brought the mail with her as she went into her office space and sat down at the desk. She took her mail knife and cautiously slid it between the layers of paper so she wouldn't do any harm to the letter inside and made a clean and precise opening. She carefully folded it open and read:

_The honor of your presence is requested_

_at the marriage of_

_Hannah Burley and Seeley Booth_

_on Saturday the 2__nd__ of April 2011_

It was only a month away. A month less a day to be more exact. She wondered why Booth hadn't told her they had set a date. There had been many opportunities. Today they had practically spent the whole day together, driving 4 hours back and forth to a crime scene where they had retrieved a thoroughly decomposed body. He must have realized that she'd get the invitation when she got home.

The rest of the mail was mostly bills and a request for a lecture at the Northwestern University. She filed them away in their proper place to be dealt with at a later time and opened a drawer to take out a card and an envelope. She wrote down her response to the wedding invitation, put it in the envelope and wrote Booth and Hannah's address. She'd mail it on her way into work the next morning.

The next day she was in the lab the whole morning. She was supervising Mr Vaziri's first attempt to reconstruct a skull, while also studying the x-rays trying to find something that could lead them to an id. Her student actually did a better job than she would have thought. She gave him the honor to bring it over to Angela after she'd signed off on the tissue markers and went back to her office. She was already deep in focus on the article about the hunting rituals of an extinct Inuit-tribe she'd been asked to review, when she heard a knock at the doorpost to her office.

"Lunch?" her best friend asked her. She recognized the concerned look on Angela's face which she always wore when she thought she needed her help to figure out some social or emotional situation.

"Already?" she looked down at her watch and realized it was already half past twelve. She wasn't hungry and didn't really want to take a break, but she could tell by Angela's face that it would only get worse if she refused.

Angela chatted the whole way over to the cafeteria and while they were standing in line. She wasn't surprised when Angela suggested that they'd bring the food back to her office so they would have some privacy.

"So Booth and Hannah are getting married," Angela said when they were back in her office sitting on the couch and enjoying their lunches.

"Yes, I got the invitation yesterday. I'm very happy for them both," she responded.

"But you knew already, right?" Angela said between bites. She obviously been as hungry as she'd stated on the walk over to the cafeteria, because her sandwich was almost gone.

"It's an expected development of an accepted marriage proposal."

Angela protested saying she thought Booth had told her in person that they'd set a date. She couldn't help but feel some sort of relief. She hadn't been totally out of line to be a bit disappointed by that.

"Are you going to go?" Angela asked.

"Of course I'm going," she stated "Booth is … well they're both my friends and even though I don't believe in this ritual, I know it's real and important to them."

"I usually berate you for running away to Guatemala, Maluku and God knows where, but honestly I would totally support you if you decided to join a dig in," Angela shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, like Peru or something."

"I know of no dig currently active in Peru that could be of any interest to me," she stated "But I get what you're saying," she tried to smile. She had never told her friend exactly what had happened, neither in front of the Hoover building nor in the rain in after finding out what had happened to Lauren Eames. Even though she now had even more reasons to keep the feelings she had had for Booth a secret or at least unspoken, she didn't have the power to deny it. "However I've adjusted. This is great for Booth. He is getting everything he ever wanted. How could I not be happy for him and support that?"

Her friend just looked at her and gave her a sad smile. They continued talking, but left the topic of Booth's upcoming nuptials and soon it was time to get back to work. She stayed late trying to finish up the review on that article with a well-grounded argument. Before Angela left for the day she had gotten a match on her facial reconstruction with a missing persons' database. She sent an e-mail with the information to Booth and then sent him a text to be sure he'd check his e-mails before he left. The victim had been dead six years and the next step of the investigation would have to wait until tomorrow. When she got home she just had a snack and sat down at her computer to work on her book. It was well past midnight when she went to bed.

She was woken early by the ringing of her phone. It was Booth telling her they had a suspect in their case and they needed to go and question him right away. He'd swing by her place in 15 minutes. She quickly got out of bed to take a shower and was just finished getting dressed when Booth knocked on her door. He was handing her a cup of coffee and continued to tell her they were going to go and have a talk with the estranged brother of the victim. He had been left to dispose of the whole heritage when their well off father had passed away from a terminal illness shortly after the victim had disappeared.

They were unusually quiet in the car. She sometimes glanced over to watch Booth. He seemed to be paying a lot more attention to the traffic than he usually did.

"We got your card," Booth told her still focusing intensely on the driving. "You could have just told me you were coming. No need to be so formal about it, we see each other every day."

His voice sounded different and she couldn't tell what the emotion behind it was. It wasn't his usual explaining the ways of social interactions, he wasn't teasing her and he didn't seem angry with her. She looked over at him, but he didn't look away from the traffic to meet her eyes. "You wrote me an invitation, I thought it would only be appropriate that I answer in the same way." She decided to follow his example and looked straight forward. "It's very soon," she commented.

"Why wait?" he said and looked over at her for the first time since they started driving.

She shrugged her shoulders "You must be busy with all of the planning."

"It's not that much. We just want a small wedding with our closest friends and family. Grandpa, Jared and Padme is coming down, Hannah's mom and stepdad and then just some friends here in DC. We don't have that much family either one of us."

After a couple of minutes she got out the case file and started to review what they knew. She got an update from Hodgins concerning the particulates he had found on the body which proved that the murder site wasn't the same as where they'd found the victim.

They had only questioned the brother for half an hour when they had gathered enough evidence to bring him in. They watched the transport drive off to take him into custody and got back into the car to return to the lab and Hoover building respectively. She fastened her seatbelt, but Booth didn't start the car. He was leaning back on driver's seat. His eyes were closed. She thought he looked tired and was just about to offer to drive, although she knew he would probably refuse regardless how tired he was.

"I need to know that you're ok with this," he finally spoke. His eyes were still closed.

She thought she knew what he was talking about, but she still asked "Ok?"

"With the wedding. With me marrying Hannah."

"I … I'm happy for you," she said slowly. She was actually surprised by the regret that was so evident in her voice. "I want you to be happy," she tried again. That was easier to say with conviction she realized.

"Are you sure?" He looked at her more attentively than he had in several months "Because I can't even imagine how I'd feel if the situation was reversed."

"You moved on," she stated "And I've adjusted." She needed this conversation to end quickly and told him she was needed back at the lab to compile all of the evidence in the case.

An hour and a half later she was back at the lab and by the end of the workday the case was finished as far as they were concerned. When Booth called her and wanted to go to the Founding Fathers for a celebratory beer she accepted. Because that was what an adjusted person would do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I'm so glad you're here," Hannah whispered in her ear when she greeted her with a hug. It had been some of Hannah's colleagues that had insisted that she needed a last girls' night out before she got married. Hannah had called her earlier today and practically begged her to come. It had been hard to decline even though she had just gotten back from an exhausting three day visit to Northwestern in Chicago and all she really wanted was to go home and unpack. Both Angela and Cam had excused themselves stating they already had plans. So she'd ended up going alone to the bar where they were all meeting.

By the look on Hannah's face it was as awful as she had said it would be. She had never met any of the other women except for Hannah. "This is Temperance Brennan, Seeleys partner and my friend," Hannah introduced her to the others and gave her a smile before she started introducing the other four women at the table.

It turned out that all of the others were married or practically married and as soon as they found out that she was single they started discussing any potential single men among their friends, co-workers and family that they could set her up with. When she protested and told them she didn't really do relationships they went over to scouting the bar for more temporary objects. Hannah gave her a look that she could only interpret as apologetic, but also a bit sad and uncomfortable. She once again wished that Booth had never told his girlfriend about her confession to him. Anyway, if not before, now she knew she was going to make it an early night, because she was definitely going home alone.

After the second drink in the third bar she felt it was ok to leave and she excused herself stating she was tired from her trip. Hannah came with her to walk her out which was probably only an excuse to get some time alone just the two of them.

"I'm really grateful you came," Hannah told her.

"I find your co-workers rather annoying," Hannah had already told her as much, so she felt it was ok to state her opinion.

"Believe me so do I," Hannah nodded.

"Good luck with everything tomorrow," she said.

"Thank you," Hannah said and there was a pause. She felt like Hannah had something else she wanted to say "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but … this, the wedding, is it hard for you?"

"No," she shook her head "I'm just happy for you."

"Because it's ok if you're not."

"Booth loves you. You love him. You're getting married tomorrow, because that's something you both want to," she stated.

"It's silly I guess, but sometimes I feel like I'm the one intruding on Seeley and you."

"I told you he will give himself to you completely," she wondered what had brought this conversation on.

"Yes, you did," Hannah nodded. She almost thought she looked frightened. "But back then I didn't know you spoke from personal experience."

"I've never been engaged nor married to anyone," she didn't really understand what it was that Hannah was afraid of. A cab pulled over and she got in it after a quick goodbye and another good luck to the bride-to-be. She went home and to bed. The slight intoxication helped her fall asleep rather fast.

She woke up to hear banging on her door. At first she thought it was the next door neighbor who was getting home from a late night out with his friends and now was frustrated that his key didn't work in the door. This happened once in a while and he would usually soon realize his mistake and go and try the actual door to his apartment. The banging didn't stop though as she had predicted and she decided to go up and see what was going on. She looked through the peephole and was startled to see her partner on the other side of the door. She could tell that he was drunk just by one look and it was confirmed to her both by his slight stumble and the smell of his breath when she opened the door. He walked in and she closed the door behind him

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She folded her arms in front of her body and wished she had taken her robe when she got up to check the door. She just wore a soft and well washed t-shirt. It wasn't much to hide behind, she realized as she looked down.

"I had to see you," he said.

"You're getting married tomorrow," she stated. She wasn't sure if it was mostly him or herself she needed to remind, but she felt like those words needed to be between them.

"Yeah, well …" his voice was fading.

"I thought Hodgins was going to make sure you didn't drink too much," she commented.

"He tried," he swayed a little and she grabbed a hold of his arm to keep him upright. He leaned heavily on her and she couldn't hold him back. She was soon pressed up against the wall by his whole body. He held his hands on her waist and by his now strong and steady hold she could tell his stumble had been rather deliberate. "Tell me you don't want me to marry her," he spoke his lips only an inch from hers.

"Booth, I …" she started. It was like he knew what she was going to say. He stopped her abruptly by crushing his lips to hers. It only lasted a second, but the regret of having turned down his proposal to give them a try came rushing back with full force. "No, no, no," she pleaded, but instead of pushing him away the way she had done that night, she brought her arms up around his neck and hugged him close, close to her body. The last 'no' was only a whisper right into his ear. She felt his warm breath as he buried his face in her hair. It wasn't an innocent embrace, not considering how their bodies were completely molded against the other, but it was the only thing she could do. She couldn't push him away.

It took several minutes before she could get any words out. Her shoulder was wet by his tears. She hadn't shed even one. "You need to go home," she told him firmly. She needed to get him out of her home before more things were said that he would regret in the morning "I'm calling you a cab." She left him in the hallway and went to look for her phone. After she had placed the call, Booth excused himself and stated that he'd wait for the cab outside. She stood by the window and watched him pace back and forth on the sidewalk until the cab showed up. She watched until it was no longer to be seen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She had eventually gone back to bed, but sleep had evaded her. By 4.30 she was sitting at her desk writing. Experience told her that much of what she accomplished right now would never make it into the finished book, but that didn't matter much to her at the moment.

When it was passed 10, she called the provost at Northwestern, with whom she had had lunch when she was in Chicago earlier that week, and left her a message to call her back as soon as possible.

An hour before Angela and Hodgins were going to pick her up she started to get ready. It had felt unnecessary at first when Angela had suggested it, but now she was grateful that she wasn't going to arrive at the wedding alone. After a quick shower she got dressed. The dress was green with a halter neck and ended just below her knees. This would be the only time she'd wear it. None of her necklaces worked with the halter neck so she settled on just some earrings. She put on some make up and put her hair up. After a thorough look in the mirror she decided she was satisfied with the result. With her coat slung over her arm and the purse in the other she went down to the street to wait for her friends.

She must have been lost in thought because she didn't notice when the car drove up. Angela had already gotten out of the car when she started to move towards it.

"You look beautiful," they both said at the same time and laughed before they quickly hugged. "Let's go." She heard the encouraging words and was led to the car and got in the back.

She greeted Hodgins and his comment that he was proud he was bringing the two most gorgeous women to the wedding was rewarded by a gentle swat from his wife. She heard them continue to talk for the rest of the drive over to the church, but even though she tried to focus she couldn't keep up with the conversation. She just couldn't make sense of what they were saying.

Eventually the car came to a stop in the church's parking lot. It was time to get out, but she seemed to have lost the ability to move her legs. She remained seated as Angela got out from the car and then struggled to come around between the parked cars to open the door for her.

"Sweetie, how are you?"

She met her friend's look of concern. "I …" she started "I don't think I can do it," she admitted and looked down at her hands. "Go. Tell Booth …" she tried to come up with a believable excuse, but that had never been her strong suit. "No, just don't tell him anything. I'll just go home."

"Wait, I'll go with you," Angela protested "I'll drive you."

"No." Her legs were obeying her again so she exited the car. "I'll just go home on my own." They protested, but she was firm. Against their will her friends walk into the church without her. For a minute she just remained standing. More people were showing up for the wedding and she realized she needed to get away from there before she had to talk to someone she knew. A cold wind made her put on her coat. She walked towards the street. There was a bus stop and she sat down. There was no hurry; she could wait for the bus.

Tears slowly started to make their way down her cheeks. They kept coming faster and faster and she wasn't even trying to make them stop. She heard the steps approaching, but thinking it was just someone else waiting for the bus, she kept staring straight ahead.

"Bones," he had stopped a couple of yards away from her. She wasn't sure if it was the sound of her name or the sound of his voice that mostly enticed her to look up. There he was, more handsome than she had ever seen him. For a second she turned her head away and wiped her face with the sleeve of her coat. The tears kept falling with an even faster pace so it was a mote point.

"I'm sorry. I can't adjust. Not like you did. I tried so hard," she got out. Her tears were betraying her, but she made sure that her voice was steady and calm. Once again she was staring straight ahead, afraid to make eye-contact with him.

"I understand." She could almost hear him nodding his head slowly.

"You moved on and I'm," she swallowed "glad. For you. You deserve to be happy. I just can't watch it today. I don't want to leave, but I don't know how I can stay either," she concluded. A bus had arrived at the bus stop and she got up and on it. She didn't care that it was going in the opposite direction of her home. She just needed to get away from there.

"Don't go," she heard his plea before the doors closed.

The drive to the church with Angela and Hodgins had only taken 45 minutes, but it was almost two hours before she was home. She had calmed down, but she still contemplated going into the Jeffersonian since there were better activities to occupy her mind with than she had at home. There were few things that could distract her when she was actually working with human remains. However she didn't want to run into someone who'd ask why she wasn't at the wedding and continued on home.

The moment she got home she stepped out of the dress, washed her face and pulled her hair into her usual ponytail. She put on a pair of soft jeans and a loosely fitted top, which she really only wore when she was at home and alone. She had barely been home five minutes when there was a soft knock on the door. For a second she considered ignoring it. But her curiosity took over and she went to open up. She wasn't certain if it was disappointment or relief to see Angela on the other side of the door. Angela hugged her and she invited her into the apartment. A part of her just wanted to be alone, but there was also a part of her that was happy that she wasn't. She went into the kitchen to make them some tea.

"Shouldn't you be at the reception?" she just realized. The mental image of Booth now married surfaced, but she quickly pushed it away.

"There's no reception," Angela said. Her facial expression must have told Angela she didn't understand what she meant because she continued to explain "Because there was no wedding."

Thoughts and feelings were running through her head too fast for her to get a hold of any. She focused on her breathing trying to calm herself down. There was a distinct feeling of happiness, which made her wonder what kind of friend she was. There was also a feeling of dread, she just wanted this to be over. Maybe then it would get easier to adjust.

"What happened between you and Booth?" Angela asked her.

"Nothing," she couldn't meet Angela's eyes.

"One minute I see Booth going after you and the next he's back calling off the wedding. Clearly something happened."

"What's between Booth and me, it's just ours," she said and she could see the flicker of hurt in her friend's eyes. This was probably one of those times when she was hurting someone's feeling without understanding why. She needed help to make sense of everything that had been going on between them and the person she would usually talk to in a situation like this, she could definitely not talk to. She wanted to talk with Angela, but she felt like it would be betraying Booth. "I'm really glad you're here," she added hoping it would be enough. She closed her eyes and sighed "I actually regret not going on that dig in Peru we talked about."

"Oh Sweetie, what did he do?" Angela said and she realized it wasn't a question that Angela expected her to answer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The rest of the weekend she contemplated what the right thing to do would be and she had no one to discuss it with or ask for advice. Sometimes she thought about how easy her life had been before she had gotten involved with so many people. Sure people had thought she'd been awkward and weird, but back then that had never bothered her. The friendships she now had were very fulfilling, yet there were so many things to do wrong in the interpersonal relations and though she hadn't wanted to admit it at first she needed help with that at times. She desired to talk to him, but she wasn't sure that it was ok for her to seek him out. In the end she decided it would have to wait until Monday.

Why she had been so affected by his wedding was hard for her to explain. Yes, she had feelings for Booth she had never had for anyone before and she had regrets for not giving them a chance when she could have. There were even some feelings of jealousy, she had admitted to herself. However ultimately, she was his friend and did want him to be happy and marriage had always seemed to be what he wanted so she should mostly have been happy for him and not miserable for herself. And why had it all culminated at the wedding. A wedding didn't even really have any meaning for her. It just didn't make any sense to her. She also wondered why the still unknown reason for the cancelled wedding was so important to her. And why his visit to her apartment the night before, but also the talk she had had with Hannah, didn't leave her thoughts. It was obvious that it had only been results of nervousness and a little too much to drink.

Monday came and there was no Booth. They didn't have a case, but he would usually check in with her at least once during the day. She was rather surprised that she didn't hear any talk about the cancelled wedding. Normally she didn't pay attention; truthfully she was mostly both uninterested and oblivious, to the gossip going around the medico-legal lab. It didn't mean that she wasn't aware that it went on.

In the afternoon she had a meeting with Cam to among other things discuss the progress of her grad students. She felt she knew very well how they were getting on with the practical part of their education at the Jeffersonian, but Angela had suggested that Cam would appreciate to share her opinion since she saw them a lot too when they were working cases. She had been convinced to indulge her on that.

On Tuesday they got a case and were told they would be working with a new agent, Agent Barossa, on this one. Apparently Booth had taken his vacation despite not actually getting married. He would be back next week.

The case was hard and she was grateful for that, because it took all of her attention. While recovering the first they found a second victim. She told Agent Barossa that she needed to stay in the lab and help process the large amount of evidence on this one and he didn't seem to mind that at all. They worked through the weekend and early Monday morning they got the break they had wanted and could make an arrest.

That Monday at 11.30 Booth texted her 'Lunch at the diner?'. She quickly responded back and suggested they'd meet in an hour.

Booth was already there, sitting in their usual booth, when she arrived. He didn't see her come in, but as she approached the table he looked up and she gave him a little wave.

"Hi," she sat down across from him. "New case?" she looked at the file he was closing and putting aside on the table.

"It's a disappearance, so nothing for you squints to look at yet."

"Ok," she nodded. The waitress came over and they ordered. Booth asked about the case they had worked on in his absence and she told him about that and what it had been like working with Agent Barossa.

"So," she started after a short break in the conversation "I'm sorry about the wedding," it needed to be said "And that I wasn't very …" she paused "supportive."

"It wasn't because of you." She could see pain in his face.

"I know," she sighed, mostly out of relief she thought, but at the same time also something that felt like the opposite of relief "I know," she repeated once more.

"And I actually need to apologize to you."

"For what?" she eventually asked when nothing followed.

"For that night, for coming to you and for saying things I had no right to …"

"It's ok," she interrupted him. She didn't want him to feel bad.

"No, it's not," he simply said.

"I believe it's normal to feel a bit apprehensive when you're about to make big life changes," she told him "it's chilly toes."

"Cold feet," he corrected her after a few seconds. She nodded and tried to adjust the image she had in her head associated with the saying to include all of the foot and not just the toes. It was hard to remember the exact wording when they made so little sense. She filed it away for later use.

"We can work together, right?" he looked at her and she was unable to interpret his expression.

"Yes, of course," she said and then she added "Don't you think we can?" she feared his answer. She wondered if Hannah had a problem with them working together. Maybe he had told her about his visit to her apartment the night before the wedding.

"Yes, I do," he nodded his head and it reassured her for now. Their partnership was all they had and she didn't want it to end.

He offered to drive her back to the Jeffersonian, but she preferred to walk so they said goodbye outside of the diner.

It only took three hours and they had a new case. Three severely decomposed victims had been found in a remote little town in Minnesota and she and Booth had to leave for the airport right away. She only hoped that the locals would be able to keep the integrity of the remains and not disturb the crime scene until she got there, but she knew the likelihood of that was rather slim and it made her agitated even before they got off the plane. Booth had actually fallen asleep during the flight and she had to wake him right before they landed. As they exited the airport and saw the police officer who had been sent to pick them up, he looked over at her and met her eyes.

"Be nice now, Bones," he said and walked over to introduce himself and her.

It was already late, but the locals had provided good lighting for the crime scene and she got to work. This would be an all-nighter. She tried to convince Booth to go and get some sleep at the hotel where they were staying, but he refused to leave before she did. Maybe he thought he needed to be there to check that she was 'nice', and that thought could have made her angry, but the crime scene, which had actually been left in pretty good shape by the locals, took all of her focus. Just by the first exam she could tell these people had been put through a lot of violence. There were few bones that were unharmed, the more thorough exam at the lab would tell if the damage had been done pre or postmortem. The victims were all female and in different stages of decomposition. By the time the sun came up she felt comfortable to ship the remains off to the Jeffersonian.

Booth suggested that they go back to the hotel for a shower and some breakfast before getting started with the day's work. She agreed and soon they were sitting in the diner across the street from the hotel eating and making a plan for the day. They reviewed what they knew so far. Both knew it would be a while until they would be able to get more updates on the physical evidence from the lab. It hadn't even arrived there yet.

They set to work interviewing people who lived close to the site and reviewed the missing persons' files of all the disappearances in the area the past ten years. By late afternoon and close to 36 hours of straight work and travel and without any substantial leads to go on it was hard not to motivate a break for some rest and sleep so they could start fresh tomorrow morning.

They went out to grab a quick bite to eat and then returned to the hotel. "This is almost like the good old times," Booth said as they were saying goodbye outside their respective room. She realized he was right. Slowly they had fallen into their usual routine of talking and arguing the different sides of the case, "We make a great team," he added.

"I always thought we did," she told him and gave him a smile before she walked into her hotel room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next morning they started working early. Unfortunately by the evening they didn't know much more than they had when the day started. She was also rather disappointed by the updates she got from her intern of the week, Mr. Fisher, so she wasn't surprised when Cam called and requested that she come back to DC to work with him on the remains. Booth seemed a little disappointed when she told him she had to leave the next morning.

The victims had been dumped at the site at different times, so Sweets was called in to make a profile of a potential serial murderer. Since Booth was still in Minnesota, she had to go to Sweets' office to get the profile. She wanted to protest at first because she still didn't put a lot of reliance on the work of the psychologist and her attention was better used elsewhere, but she knew Booth did so she had complied when he had asked her to actually go there and talk to Sweets instead of just getting it sent over.

She tried to listen politely to the younger man, but it was hard not to think that this was a wasted time. Before she left, Sweets started asking her about Booth. He seemed to have noticed that she hadn't been present at the cancelled wedding and asked about that as well. She bluntly avoided all of the questions, not even trying to hide the fact that she didn't want to talk about Booth with him.

After having worked on the actual remains, reviewed the scans and x-rays, watched Angela make several versions of facial reconstruction and gone over every piece of evidence a large number of times for the last week and a half, she still couldn't provide an id for the victims. They suspected that they were immigrants most likely from Mexico and Booth suggested that they may be illegally in the country and that was why no reported missing persons fitting their description had matched.

Without the id, finding the murderer would be practically impossible even though they were pretty sure of how it had happened. Before they left for the day Cam had come to tell them that since there was no more evidence to process they were going to have to put the remains in bone storage and send in their reports to the FBI so they could file it in the archive there. Maybe one day something new would show up and they would be able to re-open it. Booth was already on his way back to DC. It was awful when this happened, but they all knew that they had to make room for other investigations.

She went home on time for the first time in several weeks. At home she quickly changed into her running clothes and went out for an hour long run. It felt wonderful to physically let out some of the frustration. Back at home she showered and dressed, before going back to the car. Booth would probably be home by now. She brought an unopened bottle of scotch. It was one of those bottles that were too expensive for Booth to ever buy. For a second she contemplated that Hannah might be there and they might want to be alone, but it had become somewhat of a ritual for her to bring him a bottle like this one whenever they didn't solve a case. It hadn't happened too often during all of the years they had worked together. If Hannah was there she could just leave it with him and not help him finish it like she usually did.

It took a while before he opened the door. He had just gotten out of the shower she realized when she saw him in just his sweatpants, t-shirt and still wet hair. She held out the bottle to him and he smiled as he read the label. "Nice," he nodded. She remained standing outside the door. "You're staying, right?" he added.

"If you want me to."

"You're not going to leave me to drink this all by myself."

She smiled and stepped into the apartment and followed him into the kitchen. "Is Hannah …" she started, but in the mean time she noticed small signs all over the apartment "She doesn't live here anymore, does she?"

"No, Hannah moved out," he stated like it was a well-known fact.

"Oh," she tried to take in the information "So the two of you, you're not together anymore?"

"No," he said. "We called off the wedding, remember."

"That doesn't necessary mean you won't live together, does it?"

"To us it did."

He had brought out two glasses and placed them on the table. He poured them both a drink. They started talking about all of the things that had gone wrong in the investigation. Rehashing every little mistake and wrong turn. In this case nothing that would have led to a different outcome, they were confident about that, but this was what they did on these nights. By tomorrow they were going to have put the case behind them.

"I'm sorry about Hannah," she told him. It was well into the night and she had stopped drinking half an hour ago.

He just nodded "I have regrets too, you know."

"About Hannah?"

"Well, yes that too. But that wasn't what I was talking about." She remained silent just observing him "I regret not waiting for you to be ready for us. I regret trying to move on."

"I …" she didn't know what to say so she simply said just that "I don't know what to say."

"That's ok."

"Why didn't you get married?" she needed to know.

"I did love Hannah, but I didn't love her most." He had put his hand over hers and looked her deep in the eyes. It took all of her strength and power of will not to shy away from his intense gaze and soft touch. "When I said you had nothing to do with it, that was a lie," he added, but it was unnecessary, she had gotten the point. "You were really going to watch me marry her without saying a word?"

"I had already told you how I felt and you told me that you loved her. You had chosen her and I had to accept that. What did you expect me to do?"

"You're right, I know that now. It was unfair of me to come to you and try to make that decision more about you and me than about Hannah and me."

It was late and they were both rather intoxicated. She felt woozy and she wasn't sure it was just the scotch she had consumed. "I think I need to go home now," she told him without breaking eye contact. This was a lot of new information to take in. She watched him silently get up and call her a cab. He followed her down to the street and she could see him still standing there as the cab drove off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Since they didn't have any active cases, she decided to spend the next day in bone storage. It was some sort of attempt to fix the balance when they had been forced to add new bones to the collection. Maybe it was her equivalent to Booth wanting to catch as many murderers as lives he had taken, which she thought he by now must have evened out.

She had only gotten the femur of the first unidentified remain out on the table when Booth called and told her to back her gear, they had a case. It was a body which had been found only a few miles from central DC. The investigation on the site was rather quickly done and half an hour into her exam back at the lab, she both had an id and had ruled it as a suicide. The tox screen also showed use of antidepressants, which supported that fact.

Booth asked her to come along and inform the family. At first she protested, what use could he have of her with the family of the deceased when there was no murder to investigate. He told her that they may have questions about what had happened which she would be better equipped to answer. She took a moment to think about the implication. She then went with him rather willingly.

"You want to finish the report tonight? Maybe over some Thai?" she suggested as they were driving back to the Jeffersonian.

"Sounds like a great plan, but I'm picking up Parker from school tonight and spending the evening with him," he started to explain "He's going back to Rebecca to sleep though. You could join us, if you like. It's been a while."

It had been a while. She had only seen Parker a few times since before she left for Maluku and all of those times had just been quick greetings in passing. Not like last year when Booth and Parker had come over and spent whole afternoons with her at the pool.

"I wouldn't impose?"

"No," he smiled "Parker has actually been asking about you."

"About me or the pool?"

"Well, let's better leave that unsaid. But honestly you wouldn't impose. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to come."

"Ok," she agreed "I like seeing Parker."

"And after I've taken Parker back to Rebecca's, we can work on the report."

It was almost 8 o'clock when Booth left to drive Parker back home. She had offered to stay and clean up after the dinner, so they could get on with the paper work when he got back. The evening had been very nice she thought. Parker had needed some help with his math homework and she had been able to explain the problem to him. It was amazing to see the expression on his face when he finally got it and the rest of the assignments posed no problem. While she was helping Parker, Booth had made dinner and after a few games of cards it had been time for Parker to leave.

All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. She quickly finished the last plate she was holding, wiped her hands on the towel and went to open up. Just as she was nearing the door, she heard a key being inserted and the door was pulled open.

"Oh, hi," Hannah said. She looked tired and obviously surprised to see anyone on the other side of the door "I didn't think Seeley was home when there was no answer so I used my key."

"Actually Booth isn't home. He's driving Parker back to Rebecca's."

"I just came to get my mail." Hannah looked insecure and like she expected something from her. After a few seconds she added "Do you have it?"

"Oh, I don't know where your mail is," she explained to her.

"So, you and Seeley?" she could see the other woman swallow "Are you together now?"

"No, we …" she started, but was soon interrupted.

"You know, I never saw you as a threat. Not even after Seeley told me all about what had been going on between you. I really thought that he had chosen me, that he was mine."

"I … " she felt really uncomfortable talking about this with Hannah "So did I." She was afraid she was going to say something that would lead to a disaster.

"This might just be stupid to ask, but I really need to know. Did anything happen between Seeley and you when we were together? Did you know he was going to call off the wedding?"

No matter how much she had tried to rationalize the events of the night before the wedding, knowing what she knew now, it was pretty significant. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on not knowing anything about calling off the weeding beforehand. "No," she managed to get out with a firm voice. The other woman sighed in relief.

"I'm glad to hear that. It doesn't change anything, but I'm just glad to know I wasn't all wrong about him. I know I have every right to be angry, but I'm just sad." Hannah had found her mail on the sideboard in the hall. She picked it up and put down her key there instead.

"I really wish that I had never come between you," she said as she was leaving the apartment "And that's me speaking purely with my own best interest in sight." The door was pulled shut behind her.

Before Hannah's arrival she had felt completely comfortable being alone in Booth's apartment, but now she felt quite uneasy. It wasn't that she had forgotten about her, but she had been so acutely reminded that Hannah had called this apartment her home less than a month ago. It shouldn't matter because the past is the past and the present the present, but she felt strange about being here now. She started up her laptop and busied herself with the case file. She had to try hard to focus on what she was doing.

"I'm back," he said as he walked into the apartment "I stopped for ice cream. Really not in the mood for anything stronger today." She realized he was referring to the hangover they had both successfully hidden the whole day.

He came in and sat down across from her at the kitchen table.

"Hannah was here," she told him.

"Oh."

"She picked up her mail," she said "And left her key." She knew that had been a significant symbolic action.

"Did you talk?"

"Yes," she said. She realized he wanted to know what they had talked about "She asked about us. If we were together? If anything had happened before the wedding? I told her no."

"That's … that's good. Hannah doesn't need to know about me going to you that night." He looked down at his hands.

"I thought you felt that way."

"I'm really sorry for everything," he apologized again "For trying to move on and not really doing it. For the pain it caused you and for the pain it caused Hannah."

"Moving on was what we agreed on. I dated Andrew."

"That's not the same thing."

"Because we weren't as serious as you and Hannah," she agreed.

"No, because you never said you knew. You can't know something like that and think you will be successful in moving on. Not in that short period of time at least."

"I couldn't," she stated. "I couldn't move on."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next couple of weeks passed by fast. They worked a few demanding cases which kept them pretty busy. She and Booth were back working better together than they had in over a year. Even Sweets had stopped trying to convince them to come back to partner's therapy, which was a relief to her.

They were spending a lot of time together, not only at work, yet they hadn't really talked more about what was really going on between them. In a way they were back to being friends like they had been before the talk in front of the Hoover building. But at the same time something was different and she couldn't really define it. Maybe it was all the time they had spent apart and she had forgotten what they were really like together. Maybe it was because things had been strained after they came back from that time apart and now she had a new appreciation for the ease that was between them. Maybe it just didn't matter. A couple of times she had almost sought Angela's advice, but she had stopped herself every time. And then there was that other thing that she had put off talking to him about.

One weekend she and Max went down to North Carolina to celebrate her brother's birthday. They arrived late on Friday night and the girls were already in bed. After a short chat the adults decided to follow their example.

The sun was barely up when she heard two voices arguing outside the door to the room she had slept in. She had gotten Hayley's room and the two sisters had shared. Apparently they were arguing about who was going to get to go in and wake her up. Her brother came and told them to go back to the kitchen. It was unusual for her to sleep this long in the morning. She had even had plans to go for a run before breakfast.

By early afternoon she and Russ left to go and pick up some last items from the store. It was nice to get some time alone with him. It was hard to talk when the girls were around. They wanted all of her and Max's attention.

"So how are things back home?" her brother asked as he drove the car towards the store.

"Good. Angela and Hodgins are having a baby. It's exciting because Angela is like a sister to me."

"Yeah," he nodded "Amy and I, we've actually started trying to have a baby." He glanced over at her and she smiled back at him and gently squeezed his arm. "Hayley's doing really well right now and we both really want to have another kid."

"That sounds great. It really does." She sighed.

"Do you ever think about that? About having a family of your own?"

"I … I've thought about having a baby, although I had plans to do that on my own."

"You changed your mind?"

"No, there were other complications."

"Ok," he just nodded. He seemed to understand she didn't want to get more into that. Her brother had always seemed to get her like that when they were growing up. That was one of the things she had really missed during the time they hadn't been part of each other's lives. He cared, but he didn't push.

"Amy and you, you're doing well then if you're going to have a baby?"

"Yes, we are. I really wish you had someone like that in your life, someone you could share it with completely."

"I used to think I didn't want that." They had arrived at the store, but both remained seated after Russ had turned the engine off.

"Do you want it now?"

"Yes, with the right person, I do."

"You know who that person is?"

"Yes."

"Booth?" he asked, but it was like he didn't think there was any other option.

She hesitated for a second, only because she hadn't told anyone this. "Yes."

"Wow," he breathed out. "So what is happening?"

"I don't really know how to define it with a word. We've talked about being together, but nothing has really changed between us beyond that. He doesn't even really touch me and he used to do that before. This is different than being with any other man I've been with, maybe we just aren't compatible sexually." Uncharacteristically the words just spilled out of her mouth without her giving them much thought.

"Tempe, I really don't want to hear about that from my little sister." Her brother seemed sincerely uncomfortable.

"I'm a fully grown woman. Besides you talked about trying to have a baby with Amy, that would definitely involve ..."

"Shh, that isn't the same thing," he chided her like he had done when they were younger and she said inappropriate things, but then he smiled at her. "Ok, I'm going to give you an advice and then we will never talk about this again. If you want to have Booth in your life in that way, maybe you just need to take the first step. One of you has to."

"I guess you're right," she thought for a second "It's just, this has never been hard for me before. It just feels like it will mean so much more with Booth."

"That's the whole point, sis."

The next weekend they were also lucky to be without any active cases. She had joined Angela to shop for some baby clothes in the morning. Angela was due any day now and she had told her that she hoped the exercise would make that day come faster. At lunch they met up with Booth and Hodgins and then Angela and Hodgins went their way and Booth challenged her to go for a run. When they returned to her apartment Booth had won the privilege to take the first shower in a highly competitive race.

She went over to the kitchen and poured them each a glass of water. As she passed by her answering machine she noticed that there was a message and she hit play on her way over to Booth with the water. A familiar voice was heard.

"Tempe, I found a great apartment for you. Nice building, walking distance to campus. I can set it up for you if you like … unless you've changed your mind and will take me up on my offer … anyway looking forward to seeing you. Talk to you later."

Booth froze and looked up at her. She could see that he was processing something in his head like he was looking for a memory. She could tell the second his brain made the connection.

"That was Michael Stires, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Why is he looking for an apartment for you?"

"Because I'm going to be in Chicago for two months and I don't really like to stay in a hotel for that long." Just as well to tell him everything at once she thought. She had tried to find the right time to tell him about her impending time away, but it hadn't shown up. She knew that she by now probably had waited a little bit too long to tell him. It wasn't like her to procrastinate like that and she didn't know why she had done it.

"Chicago. What? Since when are you going to Chicago?" he looked confused.

"I got an offer to go there and teach a course and develop a new forensic curriculum focusing more on …"

He didn't let her finish. "How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I … For a while."

"I thought you were done running away," he seemed agitated with her.

"The decision has nothing to do with you. It's a great opportunity for me and they need someone with my experience to influence the education to be more geared at the forensic work that we do. Cam agreed that it was a good idea."

"And you're going to do that with Stires?"

"Yes." She sighed and wondered why it mattered who she would be working with.

"After what he did to you at that trial?" Even though it had almost been six years, she knew exactly which trial he was referring to.

"My field is too small to hold grudges." She shrugged her shoulders. She knew that if they hadn't been able to put those people away because of his testimony, she would not have been able to let go of that grudge.

"So you're just picking up where you left off."

"What do you mean?" She wondered what he was getting at.

"Are you involved with him?" he looked straight at her. She hadn't expected that question.

"Why would you think that? No, no … I'm not …"

Her phone started ringing and she went to pick it up. It was Angela who frantically tried to explain that she had gone into labor and Hodgins had gone back to the lab after their lunch. He had been working a lot lately to try to finish some projects before the baby was born. He still hadn't come home and now he wasn't answering his phone either. As soon as she understood the problem she told Angela that she was coming over to get her to the hospital and Booth would try to find Hodgins.

As she hung up the phone she looked over at her partner. She guessed that he had understood the situation by hearing her side of the conversation.

"Can you go and find Hodgins at the lab and take him to the hospital?" she asked him even though she had basically already promised his services to Angela.

"Sure," he nodded. He left the apartment without saying one more word.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When she showed up at the hospital with Angela, they almost collided with a bewildered Hodgins who vividly started to apologize for having let the battery of his cellphone run dead. The whole drive over she had tried to calm Angela down by telling her that Booth, with his experience and skill in apprehending and bringing in criminals, would have no problem finding Hodgins somewhere in the Jeffersonian and bring him over to the hospital. Yet nothing she had said had seemed to work. However as soon as Angela saw Hodgins, she at once became reasonably calm and took charge of the situation.

She and Booth watched them leave through the entrance to the maternity ward. When they couldn't see them anymore she turned to look at Booth. He glanced over at her and then went over to sit down in the waiting area. She went with him and sat down leaving a chair between them.

It had been rather inconsiderate of her to not tell him sooner about Chicago, she knew that. Of course he would need time to prepare for working with someone else, but she didn't really understand the extent of his anger. Going away to work on digs, but also in other institutions was part of her job. It hadn't been unnoticed by her that Booth had seemed to focus a lot on the fact that she would be working with her old professor.

"You should have told me," Booth broke the silence between them.

"Ok," she nodded "I know."

"You talked to me before you decided to go to Maluku. I don't understand why you didn't tell me about this earlier."

"That was for a year. This is only two months," she tried to explain.

"Right," he nodded, but she could tell that he didn't agree with her reasoning. "So when are you leaving?"

"In two weeks." He looked over at her and she could see that he was surprised by her answer. "Does it bother you that I will be working with Michael Stires?" she asked him when he didn't respond.

"Yes. More than I would have thought," he was looking down on his hands. She realized that maybe his anger wasn't so much regarding the disruption in their professional relationship.

"You've got nothing to worry about. I haven't had the slightest inclination to take him up on his offer to stay with him or anything else."

"I'm," he paused "glad to hear that, I guess. But what if you did have the inclination?"

"I …" she didn't know how to put it into words that were both accurate and understandable to Booth.

"The fact that you don't have an answer to that and that you didn't tell me you were going away makes me wonder if you're ready for this. Ready for us to be together."

"I can't change who I am, you know that. I'm going to do things that you won't like and things that won't make sense to you. This is who I am. It will just have to be enough." She felt defeated. She wanted to fight and tell him that she was ready and that she wanted him in ways she had never wanted anyone before. She didn't know what it was that held her back.

He nodded. She wasn't sure if he accepted that it was enough or if he just acknowledged her stance. He took a deep breath and got up from where he was sitting and glanced over at her.

"I need to get out of here," he said "I need some time."

She remained seated and waited for several hours. She thought Booth would come back, but he didn't. She desperately tried to stop thinking and feeling and just wait. When Hodgins came out and told her their son had been born and he was fine she was almost unaware of where she was and why. She followed him back to the room where Angela waited with little Michael.

Angela was sitting on the bed and holding her baby in her arms. She barely managed to pull her eyes away from him to look up at her when she entered the room.

"He's perfect," was all she could get out when she looked down on the sleeping baby. "Just so perfect," she was afraid to touch him and disturb his sleep.

"He is," both of his parents agreed.

"Where did Booth go?" Angela asked. "I thought he'd wait with you."

"He …" she quickly blinked a tear away and hoped they wouldn't see it "He had to go."

"Yeah?" Angela didn't seem to believe her.

"Yeah," she tried to sound more convincing. She would have to tell her friends about going to Chicago some other day. Soon, but not today.

As she was leaving the hospital she picked up her phone. She held it in her hand for a minute as she considered what to say before she dialed his number.

"Booth," he answered.

"It's me," she paused "I'm just leaving the hospital. All three of them are fine and you can visit tomorrow."

"Good. That's a relief to hear."

"So I guess I'll talk to you later," she said when there was just silence.

"Bones?"

"Yes."

"We'll talk later. I guess I just need some time to adjust."

"To me going away?"

"Yes, and to what being with you will be like, I guess."

"Are we still going to do that?" She hadn't even dared to think about it.

"I want to."

"So do I," she agreed

"And I want you to know that I know you're the most loyal friend I've ever had and you'll be bringing that into a relationship even if you don't know it yourself."

She didn't know what to say.

"We'll talk later," he repeated.

There was a short moment of silence where he waited for her to say goodbye.

"Booth," she paused and tried to verbalize a realization, which had come to her as she was alone in the waiting room "When I accepted the position in Chicago, you were going to marry Hannah. It was a factor when I made the decision. I guess on some level I thought two months away would help me adjust to that."

"I … I'm glad you told me now. I just wish you had done it earlier."

"I think I didn't because lately I've regretted making that decision, but ..."

"But you're still going to go because you gave you're word."

"Yes."

She could distinguish no anger as he said the last sentence and she was finally comfortable with ending the phone call.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The next morning Booth called her early and they met for breakfast before going to see Angela, Hodgins and the baby. Booth had brought the present they had picked out together. She still felt some tension and at first they carefully avoided talking about the time she was going to spend away and what had happened the day before.

"What exactly is it that you're going to be doing in Chicago?" he asked her as they left the diner and started to make their way towards the hospital.

She started telling him and though she did notice when she had gotten into too much detail and he started to lose interest, she still continued to talk a little bit longer. These were things that were easy to talk about and she wanted to continue that ease between them a little longer.

"I can see that this work you'll be doing is pretty important to you. Maybe it's selfish of me, but I still wish you weren't going because I want to see you every day," he took the chance to stop her recitation when she made a brief pause.

"I'm going to miss not seeing you every day," she told him earnestly.

"I will miss you." She glanced over at his face. It was like he was just stating a fact. "I'm also impatient," he admitted.

"Impatient?"

"We're moving towards something and I want to," he paused "I guess I want us to already be there. And I know we need to take this slow and we need time. We both do. I just wonder what being apart will do to the timetable."

"That's impossible to know, Booth."

Even though the day had started with tension between them, once they were at the hospital with Angela and Hodgins she didn't think that their friends noticed anything different between them. By then she wasn't even sure that anything was different or tense between them anymore. Baby Michael was as wonderful as she remembered from yesterday. Rationally she knew she was programmed to feel affection for and protectiveness of the newborn, but for some reason just that explanation didn't feel satisfactory to her today. She took the opportunity to tell them about her planned absence from the Jeffersonian. For some reason neither Angela nor Hodgins seemed very surprised by her revelation. An hour after they had arrived, Booth and she got ready to leave. They said goodbye and promised to come and visit again once the family had left the hospital and were home again.

"Do you think that will ever be us?" he asked after she had closed the door to the hospital room.

"Us?" she didn't know what he was getting at, but when he nodded back towards the room where they had just left their friends she guessed "Oh, you mean us having a baby together?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Would you want it to be ever us?"

"I asked you first," he smiled back at her.

"No, you asked if I think it will be us. To make any sort of likely prediction regarding that I need more information to base my assumption on, like for instance if you want it to be us."

"Would you want it to be us?" he changed his question instead of answering her question.

"Yes." That was an easy question for her to answer.

"Me too," he agreed. He walked really close to her and she linked her arm with his as they continued walking out from the hospital. He smiled at her and she returned it briefly before leaning her head down against his shoulder.

Two weeks later she left DC filled with enthusiasm to throw herself into the assignments in Chicago. She was sad to leave Booth and the rest of her friends, but excited about the work. When she was working out of town she was always able to focus more completely at her work without any interruptions. It reminded her of how she had lived before she came to the Jeffersonian, and though she rarely missed those days, it was nice to once in a while get to enjoy that kind of simple life. One thing was different with this trip though. Possibly it was because she was in a place which didn't only have perfect communication; the time-difference didn't pose any troubles either. She kept in touch. Most of all with Booth, with whom she spoke almost every day, but also with Angela and Hodgins. She had even called Cam the other day.

The work at Northwestern was moving along nicely and she was positive this would be the best curriculum any university had ever seen in the field of forensic anthropology. Michael had flirted a bit with her in the beginning and even invited her out to dinner a couple of times. It had been a little strange to see him and work with him again at first, however she had no trouble making it clear to him that she only wanted a professional relationship with him.

The apartment she was staying in was small, but comfortable. It belonged to an English professor who only spent one semester every other year in Chicago and rented it out the rest of the time. It was rather impersonally and sporadically decorated and she missed her own apartment and office with all of the beautiful and momentous things she usually surrounded herself with. It would only be three more weeks now. This was the first time she had ever really longed to go home. She felt ready to leave this simple life behind her.

Just as her habit had been for the last five weeks she called Booth as she was leaving the campus for the day, but the call went straight to voice mail. She picked up some deli on her way to the apartment and as she entered it she got the call back from Booth. After the usual greetings there was a moment of silence.

"So, I've got a new case," he said.

"That's not unusual."

"In Chicago," he added. She thought he sounded a little bit apprehensive.

"You're in Chicago now?"

"Yes," he paused "So I was wondering if I could come over?"

She quickly encouraged him to do so and gave him the directions. Her stomach started feeling a bit queasy and she wondered if it was because of the lunch she had had. Maybe that falafel place really wasn't to be trusted. She looked down at her clothes and quickly decided to go and change. She wanted to wear something more casual, but she still wanted to look nice. She found something suitable in her wardrobe and pulled a brush through her hair. The little makeup she wore was flawless, but she still did some touching up. Then she took a minute to think about what she was doing. This was Booth coming over after work just like he had done so many times before. Not to this exact apartment, but she didn't really think that the change of scene made that much of a difference. Her stomach was tied into a knot and she realized that she was nervous.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled to herself. She took one of her subscripted scientific magazines and sat down at the small kitchen table. She started reading an article about a new study about the development of vascular dementia. Not really related to her work, but as always she had a pen in her hand ready to high light important passages anyway.

She was almost startled by the nock on the door. After folding the magazine together with the pen sticking out from the page she was at, she went over to open the door. For a second they were just silently standing still and looking at each other. Then at once they flung themselves into each other's arms. In some to her unknown way Booth managed to pull the door shut behind him without letting go of his tight hold on her. She had buried her face right where his shoulder became his neck and was inhaling the scent of him. She took one more deep breath before pulling her head back and searching out his lips for a kiss. It didn't turn out slow and sweet as she had intended. It was filled with hunger and passion. She started tugging at his jacket and it soon fell to the floor. For every next step she initiated, he was eagerly following her. Soon she had led him into the bedroom and most of their clothes had been discarded.

"Are you sure?" he suddenly pulled back an inch from her.

"I thought I was making my intention pretty clear."

"No. I mean, you are," he smiled and playfully pulled his fingers through her hair, then he was suddenly serious again "You realize that when we cross this line, all those things we've talked about lately won't be in the future, it will be the present? I need you to be sure before we ... If you're not ready, I will wait for you," he stated. His forehead rested against hers. There was no doubt in her mind that he meant every word. She obviously had no proof of this, but she felt confident that he would have waited for as long as it took. Yet there was no need for him to wait for her.

"I'm sure. I'm ready," she just said and was surprised by how easy those words came out of her mouth. She leaned in and managed to pull off that slow and sweet kiss.

"So am I."

"That's good," she smiled against his lips.

The kisses and touches continued to be gentle and careful for a couple of minutes, but soon their desire for each other got the better of them. By now nothing could have stopped them from happening.

Afterwards they lay wrapped in the sheets and each other. She remembered that she usually didn't like this part and she would usually have to make herself stay and talk, but she couldn't remember why.

"You want to sleep?" she asked him as she stroked the outline of his chin. His eyes were closed.

"Not really," he opened his eyes and stroked his hand across her hair.

"We should have done this earlier," she stated.

"You think?"

"We are very good together, don't you think?"

"I always thought we would be, but …" he looked at her mischievously with just one eye opened and then he hugged her even closer to his body "I'm glad we did this now."

"What if what I can give you isn't enough?" after a moment of silence she asked the question which answer she feared the most.

"It will be enough," he answered with confidence.

"No, I mean I … For instance my views on marriage haven't changed. I've been told relationships are sometimes about making compromises, but I don't think I could compromise that with myself."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. I know you, it is important to you."

"It is, it was … I had this vision of what my life would be like and it was perfectly clear to me when I got to know you that you didn't fit into that vision at all. I know you haven't changed and I don't expect you to either. But now I know, being married to someone who is great, but isn't you, that is what won't be enough for me. I had that chance and it even got so far that it would have been easier to go through with it than to stop it."

"And you stopped it," she realized he had already proven his point to her.

"Yes. I'm not saying marriage isn't something I still want. With you it just isn't a deal breaker."

They continued talking and being silent together the rest of the night and only fell asleep when there was just an hour left before they had to get up and leave for work. Booth stayed in Chicago for another three days before the case was wrapped up and he had to go back home to DC. He never checked into the hotel that had been reserved for him.


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

She was quickly scanning the arrival area as she walked in through the exit from the gate. She had been lucky and had her luggage be one of the first items to be loaded off. Booth had told her that he was going to come and pick her up even though she said that it was unnecessary for him to take those hours off from work, that it would take for him to go back and forth to the airport.

Finally her eyes caught him and she could tell that he had already seen her, because he was walking towards her at a rather fast pace. Seeing him made her heart beat faster and before she knew it, she had dropped her bags and was running the remaining part of the distance until she flung herself into his arms. He embraced her so tightly. It felt like he was completely surrounding her. She leaned back so she could reach to put her lips to his. He just kissed her lightly, but she needed more. She opened her mouth and teased his lips with her tongue.

"Ahem," she heard from behind her "You've been holding out on me." It was the voice of her best friend, at least her best female friend.

They let go of each other and she slowly turned around. There was Angela standing looking a bit mischievously. Beside her were Cam, Hodgins and Sweets.

"But I'm just glad there were things to be held out on," Angela said and broke out into a smile as she released the baby carriage to give her a hug. Booth remained beside her with his arm still at the small of her back.

"We wanted to make sure you were welcomed back properly," Hodgins chuckled as he stepped up to give her a hug. "We obviously didn't have to worry about that."

"I won't grant anymore leaves of absences or 'loans' to any other institutions. Dr. Brennan, you're needed her," Cam said.

"I can accept that," she told her "for a while at least. Wait, you knew they were here" she had turned to Booth. That was not a kiss that had been intended for an audience. Which was quite apparent when she looked at Sweets, he still hadn't gotten himself together.

"You weren't taking my hints," he tried to defend himself.

"Then you obviously weren't hinting clearly enough."

"Ok, ok," he said, but it didn't seem like he really meant it. He had walked back to where she had released her bags and picked them up. "Let's go, Bones. We've got a case."

The End

AN: Many thanks to everyone who gave me a review, a story alert or a favorite story-listing or simply just read. You should know it is very appreciated.


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